


Love Is in the Cult

by Sammy66



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-12
Updated: 2020-08-12
Packaged: 2021-03-06 05:53:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,799
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25868482
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sammy66/pseuds/Sammy66
Summary: You have a moment with Ben.
Relationships: Ben Hargreeves/Reader
Kudos: 40





	Love Is in the Cult

**Author's Note:**

> So, Ben is alive, but that's pretty much the only difference. Him and Klaus got stranded together in 1960, and Ben still follows Klaus around, I don't have a reason why. But it had to be like that for this to work

It was a nice day, so you had decided to enjoy a walk out on the grounds. Needing a little break from the other members of Destiny's Children.   
Now, if anyone had told you a few years that ago you'd end up in a cult, you would've laughed. Or maybe even punched them in the face. It had started out purely as a joke. You and a friend decided to go see this strange man's speech, wondering what all the fuss was about. You'd had no intention of actually joining his "alternative spiritual community."   
But while there, you'd met a shy, adorable man named Ben. You later learned that he happened to be the brother of the so-called "Prophet," Klaus. Ben had instantly captured your attention, and you hadn't been willing to just part ways and never see him again. So you'd opted to stick around for a while.   
And now here you were, still with them after all this time. It wasn't so bad, the people were nice, albeit quite intense. You never really fit in with them, as you never truly bought into Klaus' whole "thing." But you still felt comfortable there.   
Ben had become a good friend. You felt more than friendship for him, but he'd never made a move in all the time you'd known him, so you assumed he was simply not interested.  
You'd also formed a bond with Klaus. He caught on pretty fast to the fact that he didn't impress you all that much, since you didn't exactly make an effort of hiding it. You were careful not to break the others' bubbles, but you definitely weren't kissing Klaus' ass like them. You called him by his name, not some ridiculous titles like "Prophet," and he seemed to appreciate it greatly, considering you were pretty much the only member he actually bothered to remember the name of.  
Your mind wandered back to Ben as you took in deep breaths of fresh air. Wondering what he was up to right now. Hopefully he was out too somewhere nearby. You didn't want to seek him out without a plausible excuse, but running into him was different, right? Then you'd get to spend some time with him, without him knowing that that's pretty much all you ever wanted to do.  
You were taken out of your thoughts by the sound of someone running, headed in your direction. You turned to face the source of the commotion, raising your brows as you saw who was coming towards you at full speed.  
"Klaus?" you asked, looking around in confusion for what he may be running from.  
"Shhhh! Shhhh!" he hissed frantically as he put his finger to his lips. "You never saw me," he added before bolting once more, in direction of some nearby trees.  
You stood there, stunned, trying to figure out what had just happened. Until you finally understood--   
"Y/N?"   
You cringed at the man jogging toward you, quickly replacing the frown on your face with a fake, bright smile. "Keechie!" you forced out in a cheerful tone, trying not to grit your teeth.   
"Have you seen the Prophet?" he asked, turning his head in all directions, still searching as he awaited your answer.  
"Kla- the Prophet?" you quickly corrected yourself. "Oh, yeah. He went that way," you said, pointing in the direction opposite where Klaus had gone moments before.   
Keechie bowed to you, a weird little hand gesture accompanying his movement as he said, "Thank you, thank you." Before resuming his jog after Klaus.  
"You shouldn't have saved his sorry ass." You jumped at the voice coming from behind you. A smile grew on your face as you saw it was Ben who had snuck up on you, a smile on his face as well.   
"Come on, he doesn't deserve to have to deal with Keechie," you said with a laugh. "Nobody does," you added as an afterthought. Most people here were alright, but Keechie was just something else. He was clingy and unbearable, even for a cultist. You had no idea how Klaus survived having to deal with him so often.  
Ben shook his head in amusement. "Oh, he deserves it. He brought this all upon himself. He deserves every unpleasant minute of it."  
You laughed, bumping your shoulder against his. "You don't mean that. I know you love him." You linked your arms, nudging him to start walking with you.   
"Maybe," he scoffed, but you saw the affectionate smile he was trying to hide. They may bicker constantly like an old married couple, but you knew they cared deeply for one another.  
"So, were you having a good time, before my idiot brother and his most loyal subject disturbed you?" he asked, and you laughed at the term he'd used. He better not say that around his brother, or Klaus might take a liking to it, demanding to be referred to as "your majesty."  
"Yeah, I was. It's nice to be able to breathe, away from the group." He nodded in acknowledgment. He knew you tended to feel overwhelmed in big gatherings. "But," you added, "I was actually hoping I'd run into you."  
"Really?" A hopeful smile appeared on his face, and you made an effort not to grin wildly like you so desperately wanted to. There was something so incredibly endearing about Ben's smile. Every time you saw it, you fell in love all over again.  
"Yeah, can't ever go too long without missing my best friend," you said in a light tone, trying to mask the tremor in your voice. It wasn't anything new you for you to be this close to Ben, but every time you were, you had to put a lot of attention on hiding just how much you wanted to jump into his arms and kiss him senseless.  
"Best friend… right…" he mumbled, unlinking your arms and walking a few steps away from you, letting himself plop down on the ground, his back leaning against a tree.   
You frowned at his reaction before making your way to him. You sat down next to him, careful not to touch him.  
"Hey, what did I say?" you asked softly, looking at him, but he only looked straight ahead, his hands fidgeting. "Whatever it was, I'm sorry," you added.  
He finally turned his head to look at you. "No, no, don't apologize. It's me… I..." he trailed off.  
"You what?" you prompted gently after he stayed silent for too long, eager to understand what had made him so upset.   
"I should have said something long ago," he started, and you tensed, worried as to where this was gonna go. His tone was serious, and he seemed nervous. "It's probably too late now. Maybe there was never a chance at all…" he trailed off once more, searching for words.  
You put your hand on his knee, looking into his eyes as you said, "Ben, whatever it is, you can say it, it's okay. I can take it."  
"Okay, here it is." He took a deep breath, and you braced yourself. "I love you, Y/N. I'm pretty sure I've loved you since the moment I laid eyes on you," he finished quickly, looking at your hand on his knee, his still fidgeting nervously.   
"That's what you wanted to say? Jeez, Ben, I thought you were about to say that you secretly hated me, and you never wanted to see me again!" you exclaimed, your anxious energy giving way to pure excitement.   
He gave you a sheepish smile, his eyes lifting to meet yours. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. And I'm sorry to just spring this on you, too. I understand if-"  
"I love you, too," you cut him off quickly, and the smile he gave you made you want to cry. "I've loved you all this time. Christ, I joined a cult for you! But you never made it seem like you were interested, so I settled for being your friend. That was better than nothing." You lifted your hand from his knee, taking his hand instead.   
You realized you actually had started crying when he raised his free hand to gently wipe a stray tear off your cheek. His hand lingered there as he spoke, "I'm sorry. I didn't know how to act around you. From the second I saw you, I knew you were special. I knew I had to get close to you somehow. But I didn't want to freak you out, I had no idea if you felt the same way."   
You leaned closer to him, pressing a kiss to his lips. It was everything you'd imagined, and more. Completely worth the wait.  
As you pulled apart, he took your hand in his, worry back in his gaze. You frowned slightly, but before you could ask what was wrong, he said, "I don’t…I’ve never… been in a relationship and I’m going to make mistakes…I just need you to tell me. I need you to talk to me.”   
You let out a soft chuckle as you brought his hand up to your mouth, placing a kiss there before reassuring him. "Of course, Ben. I mean, I'm no expert either. But we'll navigate this together, alright? We'll both make mistakes, but it's gonna be okay, cause we're together now, and that's all that matters."  
The smile returned to his face as he nodded, pulling you close to him once more.  
You had no idea how long you two had been entangled with each other, could've been minutes, could've been hours. Only breaking apart when a voice made you both jump.   
"Oh, shit! Sorry, sorry, my bad!" Klaus appeared in your line of sight, and you grunted in frustration. His hair was disheveled and he was missing a shoe. But it seemed he had finally managed to lose Keechie.  
As you made to get up, Klaus hurriedly said, "No, no please, do carry on." He gestured wildly at the two of you. "I have been waiting for this to happen for ages. About damn time!" he exclaimed, and you couldn't help the small laugh that escaped you. Ben rolled his eyes and gave Klaus a pointed look, clearing his throat.   
Klaus, upon realizing he was still standing there, gaping at the two of you, quickly added, "Right, right. I'll leave you lovebirds alone." He only made it a few steps before he turned his head back towards you, a cheeky grin on his face as he said, loud enough for anyone nearby to hear, "No funny business, you two!" Then he took off running.  
You groaned and leaned your head against the tree but, despite your best efforts, you couldn't hide your amusement as Ben yelled back at his brother, "Shut up, Klaus!"


End file.
